Forest Conservation Knowledge-Community Perception Within Protected Areas: The Case of Karagöl-Sahara National Park

Commitment of local communities to protected areas is essential for conserving forest and biodiversity. However, in many developing countries like Turkey, former management strategies kept human from protected areas using coercion. Fortunately, more recent regimes attempt to give local populations more control on the management but little is known about local residents\u27 perceptions, beliefs and attitudes toward the management of these areas. This study, carried out around the Karagöl Sahara National Park, determined factors which support local communities\u27 positive perceptions towards forest conservation in the park, analysed their assessment of current park management activities compared to former management approaches and draw the implications for effective participatory management of protected areas. We collected socio-demographic data from 100 residents on their awareness of conservation methods. The findings indicated that the positive behavior of local communities towards conservation of forest within Karagöl Sahara National Park was highly correlated with the current management strategy that involved more effectively local communities, the educational level of participants. Participants\u27 perceptions of forest conservation were strongly related to locally perceived benefits. Although 91 % of participants were favorable to the concept of forest and biodiversity conservation within the park. Our results suggested that understanding local residents\u27 perceptions and using them as a starting point to improve the park–people relationship could help park management staff to involve more effectively local communities and improve their awareness about biodiversity conservation within the park

The Impact of Forests in Climate Change

As parallel to industrialization and increasing population, pressures on natural resources have rised, soil, water and air have been polluted. These problems threaten the human. So, environmental protection or in awider meaning nature conservation became a very important duty for the human in this century. The duty is a special action against eradication of living base for the organisms Forest ecosystems are of course economical natural resources. The ecosystem is a monotonous forest area by compositions, characteristics and relationsihips of the main elements within the forest. In the article, firstly, forest ecosystems and their functions were examined, then, importance of forest as natural resources, their roles for preventing risk of climatically changes, and contribution of forests for sustainable development within Turkiye were studied